Hotpoint Wml540 Dead

[moriniman]

Hello all,

Our hotpoint wml540 (about 4yrs old) shows no signs of life at all, although it previously worked fine and I don't remember any problems with the last wash. Have scrolled through 12 pages of questions here and found some related, also read Haynes repair manual and other internet sources which suggest the on/off switch, interlock door switch or main pcb.

There is 240v getting to the main pcb and also to the interlock switch brown/red connector terminal block and I measured 198ohms across these interlock switch terminals (heater element perhaps).

What I need to know-- could there be no sign of life at all the if the interlock switch is faulty or would operation of the on/off button at least light up the leds?

[Whitegoodshelp]

Power goes to the interlock before allowing anything else to work though commonly the control panel should still function so you can set the programmes. If everything is totally dead, but power is definitely getting to parts of the machine maybe there's a neutral fault somewhere, make sure the socket isn't faulty as it's possible (though rare) for a socket to have live but not neutral. Hotpoint washing machines can go dead for silly things like an open circuit motor though again, usually you'd still get lights on the control panel.

General troubleshooting advice for dead washing machine

[moriniman]

Thanks Andy, unfortunately I think the interlock switch led me astray, as you said the front panel lights would probably come up even if it were faulty. I had a good look at the main board which didn't show anything obvious before we ended up calling Hotpoint in. It was a faulty main board but why it went is a mystery.

[edhorwood]

Staggering isn't it. You can buy electronic devices, such as amplifiers, computers and they last many years. I have a computer which is over ten years old and it still works. I have amplifiers that are nearly 20 years old. When it comes to electronics in washing machines they seem to hardly last any time at all in comparison. Perhaps they use cheap components, as usual to keep costs lower for more profit.

[Whitegoodshelp]

I think you are mostly right edd. The electronic controls and pcbs were sold to us as being much more reliable because there are no moving parts but the reality is that many are just as unreliable as the old mechanical controls simply because they aren't high enough quality. The price of some of the pcbs once the model is out of production can be stupid.